That would be pretty simple to find out - he's a hugely important American composer from the first half of the 20th century. His impact on the development of the American musical in particular is enormous. His 1935 masterpiece "Porgy and Bess" was highly innovative and avant-garde for its time and certainly his work paved the way for such musicals as Bernstein's "West Side Story" and Bock's "Fiddler on the roof". Gershwin was able to combine elements of highly trained classical musical with jazz and other African-American idioms. He also had a fantastic ability for creating foot-tapping rhythms and catchy melodies.
